


Kiss Me Softly: Reaper76 Edition

by Akiko_Natsuko



Series: 50 Kisses [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Established Relationship, Kissing, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:36:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23650063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akiko_Natsuko/pseuds/Akiko_Natsuko
Summary: “One day you will kiss a man you can't breathe without." ― Karen Marie Moning, BloodfeverJack and Gabriel's relationship across fifty kisses.
Relationships: Reaper | Gabriel Reyes/Soldier: 76 | Jack Morrison
Series: 50 Kisses [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1702657
Kudos: 24





	1. Small kisses littered across the other’s face. (Pre-Fall)

**Author's Note:**

> Please note that if you want to talk to me about my fics and writing, or anime/shows/games in general then you can now find me on discord [The Unholy Trinity](https://discord.gg/jdpcfy6XTB).

It was rare for Gabriel to wake before Jack, especially on a day off. He had got used to the early mornings and late hours with the job, but it didn’t mean he enjoyed it, and mornings like this when they had nowhere to be and no one waiting on them was rare and precious. Still, even as he grumbled under his breath as he glanced across at the alarm clock and saw that it was much too early to be up, he was aware of the steady breathing beside him, and realising that he wasn’t about to drop off again he rolled over to look at his partner.

His breath catching in his throat at the sight that Jack made.

Jack who was being worn thin by the job, grey creeping into his hair, lines that hadn’t been there months ago now framing his eyes and mouth. Not as prominent as the laughter lines, but catching up, as he had less and less chance to laugh and smile these days, and Gabriel didn’t know how to change that. He could ease some of the pressure through his role as Blackwatch Commander, he could protect Jack from the threats against his life – so many that sometimes Gabriel wondered how either of them could sleep at night. But he couldn’t protect Jack from the weight of the public eye, the questions, the needling barbs of the media. He couldn’t shield him from the pressure of expectation, the demands of the brass. His hands clenched, the covers bunching. _I can’t protect him,_ it was hard to admit, even to himself.

But, at this moment, Jack was relaxed and content. Sprawled on his side of the bed, one hand outstretched towards Gabriel, whether from a dream or some subconscious need to reach out and make sure he was there, something they both needed most nights. Gabriel took a deep breath, slowly uncurling his fingers from the covers and reached for it, tangling their fingers together. Jack’s hand was warm, and calloused, still the hand of a soldier despite their superiors’ best attempts to keep him riding a desk, and their hands fit together as they always had, and some of the tension that settled in his chest eased. He was still there, still Jack, and he was stirring a little now, fingers curling around Gabriel’s as he mumbled under his breath, something that sounded like half complaint, half entreaty.

“Morning sunshine,” Gabriel murmured, shifting closer as he was rewarded with a sliver of blue, grinning despite himself at the sleepy glare as Jack realised that it was earlier than neither of them needed to be away. It was ruined by the way he could see Jack’s lips curling up slightly at the nickname, and as Jack closed his eyes again, Gabriel leaned in with a chuckle. Kissing the corner of his mouth, chasing the smile that slipped away as Jack feigned sleep, and snorting, he kissed the other corner too, before moving onward. He traced the lines of stress and laughter, kissing each one with the same amount of love and care, fleeting kisses to fluttering eyelids as Jack’s pretence of sleep faltered under his ministrations.

Trailing butterfly kisses across his partner’s forehead, as the hand not tangled with Jack’s moved to brush messy strands aside, gentle as he tugged on a greying lock, finally rewarded with Jack’s eyes opening, looking up at him, sleepy and bemused and content. “There you are,” he smiled, pressing their noses together, feeling Jack’s wrinkle slightly before pulling back and pressing a lingering kiss to the tip of Jack’s nose. There was a pause, Jack blinking at him before he leaned up to catch the next kiss on smiling lips.

“Good morning.”


	2. A small, fleeting kiss - which is immediately followed by a passionate, hungry kiss (Post Fall)

It was Gabriel.

The Soldier had spent months trying to discover the identity of Reaper. At first, it had been to know his enemy, as the mercenary had thwarted his efforts more than once, although he’d at least taken pleasure from knowing that he was just as much a thorn in the other man’s side. Later, it had been curiosity, fuelled by an odd pang of familiarity after a fight where they’d both lost their weapons and had resorted to hand-to-hand. The SEP enhancements had faded a little with age, and the abuse that his body had gone through, but he was still stronger and faster than ordinary people, and yet Reaper had held his ground, matching him for speed and force, and there had been something about how he moved. The recklessness that constantly teetered on the edge of going too far, but never quite gave Jack the opening he needed to take the man down. It was how… _Gabriel_ had fought. That realisation had drained his will to fight, and for the first time, he had fled, chased by the Reaper and the ghost of the past that he couldn’t forget.

He’d done his best to avoid Reaper after that, going after less promising targets, moving more often than not. He could escape the mercenary, but there was no escape from the spectre of Gabriel. His nights were haunted by happier memories, their life replaying through his mind. His days were spent in an exhausted haze, doubts clawing at him, and somewhere beneath it all, a painful, aching flicker of hope. It couldn’t be Gabriel. Zurich had taken him, along with everything else, and yet Jack couldn’t forget how the Reaper had moved, how he had seemed to know what Jack would do even before he did it. And in the quietest moments he wondered, was it possible?

It was inevitable really that he would find his way to Reaper again. Curiosity, and a bone-deep longing that he couldn’t bury driving him out into the open, and the mercenary had seen him just as Jack had known he would. The fight that followed was brutal. Jack trying not just to crush this man who had brought too many memories back to the surface, but also the hope that continued to rise as again and again they clashed, perfectly matched before breaking apart again. Reaper angry. Hungry. A whirling dervish of death with one target in mind, growing increasingly frustrated when Jack matched him again and again.

In the end, it was Jack who broke first, staggering back with blood dripping from his mouth and nose, the visor cracked and sparking, distorting his vision and leaving him off-kilter even as he heard Reaper moving towards him. The steady footsteps of death stalking towards him. And he wasn’t sure if it was hope of desperation, that made him reach up, pushing off the broken visor and pulling aside the mask, as he whispered, soft and broken. “…Gabe?” His vision was blurry without the visor, Reaper little more than a dark mass as he the other man came to an abrupt halt, and for a moment they remained like that. Jack squinting at the other man, trembling with anticipation, and Reaper still and silent, shadows swirling around him.

“Jack…” The voice was different, more ruined than his, but Jack knew it. Trusted it more than he trusted his eyes right then, and he nodded jerkily before stepping closer. “Don’t…” The protest was soft, more pleading than angry, although there was a note of anger in his voice. A growl, as he echoed the last word, he had said to Jack that fateful day in Zurich. _Don’t come near me,_ he had been about to say before the first rumbling boom of an explosion had cut him off, and Jack’s breath caught.

_It is him…_

He hadn’t had the chance to defy Gabriel back then, the world erupting around them. He had a choice now, and he stepped forward, wary but hopeful. Another growl, the dark mass recoiling backwards, but not fleeing. Slowly, steadily Jack moved forward, chasing the spectre of the past, the hazy promise of something more. As he got closer, he could make out more details, the damage that he had inflicted, the wisps of shadow that told him that more than Gabriel’s voice had changed, and that bone mask that had hounded his steps for so long. “Stop,” Reaper rasped, more pleading than threatening now.

Jack didn’t stop, he couldn’t.

Another step, then another and another, and he was right in front of Gabriel now. Close enough to touch, and for the first time, he hesitated, looking down as doubt and hurt, and a lifetime in between swirled in his chest. _Gabriel, I…_ A soft noise, too low for him to make out, made him lift his head just in time to see the bone mask melting away as though it had never been there, and he couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think.

Because it was Gabriel.

The features that he had loved were changed. Aged and scarred, and as he watched part of the left cheek disappeared, leaving him with a fleeting glimpse of muscle and teeth, before smoke swirled around the gap and the skin reformed. “Not what you were expecting?” More skin disintegrated and reformed as Gabriel spoke, still rasping, his voice filled with so much bitterness and hurt, that Jack’s heart ached at the sound.

“No,” he admitted, knowing that the time for lies was far behind them, and he stepped forward as hurt flickered in the dark eyes. “It’s more than I had expected.” Gabriel’s eyes widened at that, and he didn’t move as Jack stepped closer, erasing the last of the distance between them. “Much more,” he added, reaching up with trembling fingers, brushing Gabriel’s cheek as his breath caught. Gabriel was cool to the touch, his skin wavering and disintegrating before solidifying, it was a strange, disturbing sensation, but it was real. _He’s here. It’s him._ Jack’s mind was whirling past and present mixing. Memories, giving way to the possibility of something more.

Hope.

Longing.

He wasn’t sure that he had the right, but he couldn’t fight them, and Gabriel didn’t move. And he wasn’t sure that either of them was breathing as he leaned in, brushing his lips against Gabriel’s, in a small, fleeting kiss. It tasted of ash and smoke, and Gabriel. A noise bubbled up, and he wasn’t sure if it was from him of Gabriel. Just that he wanted, needed more of both. Gabriel was reaching for him now, and Jack’s restraint, what little he had snapped, and he surged forward, kissing Gabriel as he should have that day in Zurich. As he should have done every day that they’d had together.


	3. A breathy demand: “Kiss me” - and what the other person does to respond.

“…. Lives and sacrifices, the U.N. is today announcing the official end of the Omnic Crisis. We give thanks to the men and women who have made this….”

Jack turned away from the holovid. He wasn’t interested in the pretty words and ceremony, knowing that they had much more coming their way once they made it back to base. There would be no getting out of that, much to his dismay, but for now, he was safe and surrounded by the rest of the Strike Team who was still staring at the screen in various degrees of shock and relief. _It’s over._ It felt like it couldn’t be real after so long fighting without any apparent end in sight. Part of him felt the same, and he had a feeling that when it really sank in that it was over, that they had won, then maybe he would be the same. For now, he was buzzing, elated in a way that he hadn’t been since the day he had realised that both he and Gabriel had survived the hellish weeks of SEP, haunted but alive, and together.

_Together._

He turned searching for Gabe, expecting to find him staring at the holovid like the others. He had often been the most optimistic of the group, but even he had been wearing thin the last few weeks, and Jack couldn’t blame him for that.

Gabriel wasn’t staring at the holovid, although he had clearly been watching as he had the same half-stunned expression that the others did, his eyes, as sharp and focused as ever were on Jack. It wasn’t the first time that Jack had felt the full weight of Gabriel’s gaze, or seen the heat, the hope for more, the longing for something that the crisis wouldn’t allow them to have. Usually, it was contained, held at bay by the reality of their situation. Not today. The dark eyes blazed with warmth and hope, and Jack could feel himself colouring under the weight of it, even as his heart started to pound in his ears. Each beat louder than the last, especially when Gabriel began to move towards him, never looking away, and never hesitating. Trapping him in place, as effectively as if he’d got Jack in a hold on the wrestling mats.

Silence was spreading around them, and Jack could feel the others looking at them now. He could have sworn he heard Ana whispering to someone, but the words were lost to the pounding in his ears, and he couldn’t drag his eyes away from Gabriel long enough to see what they were up to. Gabriel reached him, stopping barely a foot away from him, gaze still intense, and a half-smile playing on his lips, threatening to break into something more. Jack swallowed and tilted his head in question, not entirely trusting his voice to work just then.

“Kiss me.”

Jack was sure that all the blood in his body had rushed to his head at those words, spluttering slightly as he stared at Gabriel who stood tall, unrepentant at having said them aloud for the world to hear. It hadn’t been an entreaty, although he could see the pleading and longing in the dark eyes, nor was it a demand, although only someone who knew him as well as Jack would have realised that from a tone. It was permission. For Gabriel to have what he had wanted for so long, for Jack to do what he had dreamed about ever since SEP and for a moment he couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe or think.

In the background, the holovid was still playing. “…the world celebrates today…” And he could breathe again, although he felt as though his mind was still short-circuiting as he stepped forward, closing the distance between them, and reaching for Gabriel’s shirt, pulling him close as he imagined a hundred times. It was clumsier than those imaginings, Gabriel jerking against him as he put more force into that intended, their noses bumping as Jack leaned in to kiss him. Jack was hesitant as though waiting for the world to snatch this away, as it had taken away so much over the last few months and years, but Gabriel’s arms were circling him now, pulling him close after the first tentative brush of their lips and kissing him back. And somewhere behind them, as his arms crept up to cling to Gabriel’s front as the kiss deepened, a long-buried longing finally given life, he heard Reinhardt chuckling as Ana grumbled something about couldn’t they have waited another week. The others wolf-whistling and clapping as someone finally turned off the holovid, and he smiled into the kiss.

_Finally…_


	4. An accidental brush of lips followed by a pause and going back for another, on purpose.

Gabriel hissed as Jack finished wrapping his ribs and fastened the bandages in place. He healed fast, but not quickly enough as they could hear Omnics moving closer to the ruined house they had taken shelter in, and he grimaced. Moving was not going to be fun, but then getting surrounded wasn’t going to be any better. “Well, you’ll live at least until we get to Ana,” Jack said, voice soft, careful to stop the words carrying beyond them as he tilted his head as somewhere, they heard the familiar sound of a wall being toppled by a metal body. “I can’t promise after she gets your hand on you.” Gabe frowned, hearing the tension in those words before sighing, and immediately wincing as he regretted it. Breathing through the pain, he reached out and rested his hand on Jack’s shoulder, fully aware of why the other man was unhappy with him, although threatening with Ana was a low blow.

“Would you rather I’d let it topple on your head?” He asked mildly, doing his best to keep a lid on the pain in his side, although Jack knew him too well to be fooled. Not that it changed anything. Jack knew he was hurting. Just as he must’ve known that there was no way that Gabriel was going to stand by and let the wall crumble on top of him. Although admittedly he had been hoping to get out of the way in time too.

“Yes.” Jack lifted his head, just as Gabriel leant in, trying to find the words to convince him that this wasn’t his fault, that Gabriel had no regrets, and that he was going to find. That close together, Jack’s lips brushed his, the sharp reply, a tickle against his mouth before Jack jerked back, staring at him wide-eyed. He was scowling, and Gabriel had just enough time to think that he had been spending too much around Ana – refusing to think of all the times that Jack had teased him for scowling at new recruits – as it was a look that had him wanting to squirm when Jack leaned in again. Kissing him on purpose this time, gentle despite his scowl, and just the right side of desperate. It was still enough to take Gabriel’s breath away, and he melted into it. The kiss telling him what Jack wouldn’t allow himself to say until they were safely out of this mess.

_You scared me. I love you._


	5. Throwing their arms around the other person’s neck, hugging them close before kissing them passionately on the lips.

Jack could feel Gabriel’s gaze on him, soft and amused, as he fidgeted. Whatever nerves he’d had about their wedding, and there had been far too many, much to Ana’s amusement as she’d been tasked with keeping him calm and getting him to the ceremony on time, had long since faded. Disappearing the moment he had set eyes on Gabriel. Dashing in his white suit, waiting for him with a smile that made it look as though everything that had happened – SEP, the Crisis and the ongoing stress and struggle of shaping Overwatch into something that worked – had melted away. Now, he wanted the official to finish speaking so that he could kiss his husband. He’d long since lost track of the ceremony, relying on Gabriel’s expression to tell him when to speak, the words practised so often over the last few weeks that he felt as though he could have said them in his sleep. And now he was shifting, trying to surreptitiously close the distance between them.

There was the weight of the ring on his finger now, and Gabriel’s hand warm in his as he slid the matching band into place, unable to stop himself from smiling. _Mine…_ Fingers curled around his, a silent sign that Gabriel echoed his feelings, and Jack pressed a little closer.

_Soon…Soon…So…_

“You may now kiss…” Jack didn’t wait for them to finish, throwing his arms around Gabriel’s neck and pulling him close, meeting his gaze, and seeing the laughter dancing in the dark eyes before he kissed him. He knew what was expected. Knew that there were cameras trained on them and that as much as he wanted this moment to be private, at least some of those images would hit the world’s media. Jack decided in that second that he didn’t care. It was their wedding, something that had once seemed like an impossible goal, and that they’d had to fight tooth and nail for. But now Gabriel was his, by law and every other category that you wanted to use and he wanted to show the world.

It wasn’t soft. It wasn’t chaste. It wasn’t the kiss a Strike Commander was expected to show the world. Instead, it deepened, heated, passionate. The kiss of a man who’d finally found his other half, whose world was complete despite the odds, and when with a startled noise Gabriel responded in kind, Jack felt the rest of the world. The expectations. The cameras and watchful eyes. All of it melted away, and for a moment at least, it was just the two of them.


End file.
